John Joseph 'Jack' Spring -- S.F. parks veteran

John Joseph "Jack" Spring, who worked his way up through the San Francisco park system from planting trees to eventually serving as department general manager, died July 19. He was 86.

Mr. Spring's health had declined following a stroke in June, his son Brian Spring said Wednesday.

Born in San Francisco, Mr. Spring was known to many as one of the "last of the McLaren gang" after his retirement in 1980. It was John McLaren, the gruff Scotsman responsible for building Golden Gate Park, who gave Mr. Spring his first full-time park work.

Mr. Spring held many titles during his rise through the S.F. Recreation and Park Department. He got an early start of sorts when he helped out during a 1931 May Day event at Children's Playground, where his mother worked as a vendor. His job: to lead a goat and a girl in a cart during the festivities, because the kid who was supposed to do it didn't show up.

Later, Mr. Spring did weekend and after-school work for the department at 15 cents an hour, and then 20 cents an hour, doing jobs such as helping children on and off the Golden Gate Park Carousel. McLaren hired him as a full-time gardener at $2.50 a day, six days a week -- what Mr. Spring called "a lot of money in those days" in a 1980 Sunday Examiner & Chronicle story about his retirement.

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Mr. Spring served in the Army Corps of Engineers during World War II. Afterward, he returned to the department and worked his way up to chief nurseryman, a post he held from 1958 to 1964.

From 1969 to 1973, he served as assistant superintendent of parks, in charge of Golden Gate Park. He then was named interim and later permanent director of the San Francisco Zoo.

In 1974, Mr. Spring became the city's superintendent of parks. In 1980, he retired as the department's general manager, a post he had held since about 1975, his son said.

During his 44 years with the park system, Mr. Spring did everything from planting trees to playing a big role in the early days of the city's Open Space Committee, which addressed the need to preserve land for park and recreation use. His contributions made him probably the second or third most important person to San Francisco parks after McLaren, said department spokeswoman Rose Marie Dennis.

"You look back and think, 'How did we get where we are?' " Dennis said. "It's because of people like him."

"He knew the park system backward and forward," said Mary Burns, who served as parks general manager in San Francisco from 1985 to 1996 and now is director of Sonoma County Regional Parks. "He was a real institution." Mr. Spring's likeness, in fact, is included in a mural at the Beach Chalet, Burns said.

Tom Chiosso, who takes care of the grounds at the San Francisco Zoo, worked for Mr. Spring and remembered him as a person always looking to keep park properties in top shape.

Last year, when Mr. Spring visited the zoo, he was still quite interested in the work there, especially the horticulture, Chiosso said.

"I had the pleasure of driving him around the zoo," he said.

Jack Castor, who served as a lion keeper at the zoo for about half a century and worked with Mr. Spring, remembered him as a smart, conscientious leader.

"He was nice guy, very informative, and he was a very intelligent person about matters as far as the park was concerned," Castor said. "He was a real good boss in everything he did."

Mr. Spring was preceded in death by his wife and a son, Patrick. He is survived by sons Brian and Paul; daughter Eileen Erickson; and a grandson.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Aug. 12 at Holy Name Church, Lawton Street at 39th Avenue.